Politics: Shurtleff's Obamacare Flip (and Flop)

Never one to pass up an opportunity for self-promotion, Shurtleff hyped his conservative bonafides last week. Utah is just one of 26 states that challenged “The Affordable Care Act” right after Congress passed it in 2009. But you wouldn’t know that from the attorney general’s back-patting:

Chief Deputy and AG wannabe John Swallow posted a teleconference on YouTube (255 views and counting!). And Shurtleff called the Sutherland Institute from D.C. to chat. It’s a wonder he found the time, what with his incessant self-congratulatory tweeing: “Great 3 days making history at SCOTUS,” he chirped, from Fort Snelling, Minn.

It all seems a bit frenzied—last-ditch legacy-building from a guy whose right-wing cred is muddled at best. Shurtleff’s resume as the state’s top lawyer is of two minds: He questioned the legal underpinnings of Utah’s ban on gay marriage, supported a shield law for reporters, dreamed of becoming president of the state’s Gentile university and just appeared in a New York Times profile as an immigration softie.

He’d probably like us to forget that giddy tweet from a few weeks ago: “Honor to be @whitehouse State Dinner tonight for UK Prime Minister Cameron.”

That’s like socializing with a socialist. Good thing he covered it up with an avalanche of anti-Obamacare.